Assistant Head Chef / Cafe (No Nights/Weekends/Holidays) - Multiple Locations

Red Rabbit; New York (NY); On-site; USD 30,000 - 33,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous PTO

Health, Dental, Vision Insurance

401k Option

Paid Professional Development

Education Reimbursement Opportunities

Paid Family Leave

Disability Insurance Coverage

Job summary

Red Rabbit is seeking an Assistant Head, Cafe in New York to independently manage day-to-day food service operations at a school kitchen. You will ensure meals are prepared, presented, and served on time with dignity, while upholding Red Rabbit’s standards for quality, presentation, service, and compliance.

The ideal candidate is self-directed, reliable, and experienced in culinary and kitchen expediting tasks, with strong administrative skills and a passion for nutrition in schools.

Qualifications

• 1–3 years experience in an operational or administrative role supporting cross-functional teams.
• 1+ year in a customer-facing role preferred.
• Proven ability to track, prioritize, and drive multiple projects successfully.
• Experience with schools and/or food service, a plus.
• Entrepreneurial spirit and desire to be part of a growing, mission-based company.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Acute attention to detail and follow-through.
• Passion for improving nutrition in schools and aligning with social justice and equality.

Responsibilities

• Engage with students to provide a positive experience.
• Maintain a clean, presentable service line with dignity.
• Use base kitchen menus to elevate cafeteria experience.
• Ensure meals are served on time with compliant portions.
• Coordinate meal readiness, staging, and service flow.
• Share information across teams to keep operations smooth.
• Identify and resolve potential workflow conflicts.
• Maintain data accuracy and meal compliance systems.

Skills

Operational coordination

Customer facing

Multitasking

Communication

Detail oriented

Nutrition in schools

Job description

About the Role

The Assistant Head, Cafe reports to the District Manager and is responsible for independently managing the day to day food service operations at an assigned school kitchen. The key responsibility of this position is to ensure meals are prepared, presented, and served on time and with dignity, while consistently meeting the needs of the school and its students.

The ideal candidate is self-directed, reliable, and comfortable working independently, with strong culinary and kitchen expediting experience. They are comfortable managing administrative tasks, interacting with school partners, and taking ownership of daily kitchen operations. A strong emphasis will be placed on the candidate’s ability to stay organized, manage priorities, and maintain Red Rabbit’s standards for food quality, presentation, service, and compliance while working independently.

Key Responsibilities

• Engage with the students ensuring a positive and uplifting experience for all
• Maintain a clean and presentable service line, uplifting the students with dignity
• Creatively use the menus provided from your base kitchen to elevate the cafeteria experience
• Ensure meals are served on time in compliant portions daily
• Coordinate meal readiness, staging and service flow to ensure all meals are complete, accurately portioned and served on schedule.
• Proactively share information between teams to keep operations running smoothly.
• Identify and resolve potential conflicts or "collision points" to maintain workflow.
• Maintain operational systems and databases, ensuring data accuracy and meal compliance
• Create accountability checks to ensure consistent data management.
• Proactively address day-of concerns with school partners and keep Head Chef and District Manager informed
• Collaborate with the kitchen team to solve same-day operational issues.
• Other duties as assigned

Skills Required

• 1-3 years experience in an operational or administrative role supporting cross-functional teams.
• 1+ year in a customer-facing role preferred
• Proven ability to track, prioritize, and drive multiple projects successfully
• Experience with schools and/or food service, a plus
• An entrepreneurial spirit and desire to be part of a growing, mission-based company
• Excellent communicator in written and verbal form
• Acute attention to detail and impeccable follow through
• Must share our passion improving nutrition in schools and see our work through the lens of social justice and equality
• Food Handler Certification required or must be obtained within 30 days of hire
• Bilingual : Spanish/English a plus

Additional Information

Job Type: Full Time

Typical Schedule: Monday - Friday, 07:30 AM - 2:30 PM (apx)

Reports to: District Manager

Compensation: $22-24 an hour

Benefits

• Generous PTO (most major holidays off)
• Health, Dental, Vision Insurance
• 401k Option
• Paid Professional Development
• Education Reimbursement Opportunities
• Paid Family Leave
• Disability Insurance Coverage

About Red Rabbit

Founded in 2005, Red Rabbit is an MWBE-certified K–12 school food management company on a mission to transform school dining. We believe that serving diverse, high-quality meals to children in urban communities is about more than food, it’s about dignity, representation, and opportunity.

Our professionally trained chefs work in commissaries and onsite in school cafeterias, preparing scratch-made, culturally relevant meals that reflect the heritage and lived experiences of the students we serve. We don’t just deliver food...we become part of the school community.

Today, Red Rabbit prepares and serves millions of meals each year across the Greater New York region, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.

If you’re passionate about food, community, and making an impact every day, we’d love to meet you.

Red Rabbit is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, or sexual orientation.